Syrian refugees in Turkey say they feel they have been reduced to bargaining chips in haggling between the European Union and Turkey over how to respond to the millions of people fleeing Syria's civil war. They expect to come up at the short end of the stick. Istanbul (dpa) - Syrian refugees fear their fate could take yet another turn for the worse if the European Union and Turkey sign a deal that aims to halt the flow of migrants to the bloc.
Such an agreement would mean more years of waiting in limbo in Turkey as the Syrian civil war rages on and more years of being unable to work legally as their children struggle to get a decent education. Turkey and European leaders are haggling over the details of the agreement and fighting for their own interests, but Syrians said they are left out and have no voice in the negotiations.
"We feel like we are a card they are playing," said a 29-year-old refugee from Homs province who only identified himself as Rami. "We are being used. Nobody asks us what we want. We are just numbers -how many are you hosting and how many can you host." "People are watching this news about Europe and Turkey very closely, maybe even more than they watch the news inside Syria," said Rami, who has been living in Turkey for more than a year.
Legally, the Syrians, Afghans and other groups are not recognised as refugees in Turkey. They may stay but are usually denied work permits. Only a fraction of their children are in school, and many instead work in manual labour or beg to support their families. "People are leaving for Europe from Turkey because they have opportunities there," says Salem, a 27-year-old from Syria's Aleppo province, who also gave only one name to protect his identity. "They can be productive members of the community."
"There is no place in Turkey for me," said Salem, who was an English teacher before the war and wants to study for a master's degree. "I have no access to education and no access to work." "If I cannot find a way to get to Europe legally, I would take a boat because there is no hope living in Turkey," he said. "Nobody would risk their life if they didn't believe there was a better chance on the other side of the boat." European leaders, who are facing the largest influx of migrants since World War II, want Ankara to take measures to stop Syrians from leaving Turkey, the major transit country.
These steps include cracking down on smugglers and improving the lives of the more than 2.2 million refugees in the country. Turkey wants Europe to share more of the refugee burden. It is also pushing for visa-free access to Europe for its citizens and wants the bloc to recognise it as a "safe country," meaning one where there is no persecution. The last part has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups.
"The concept is wrong, and applying this concept to Turkey is just crazy," said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher. "It's just realpolitik and nothing more." "There have always been human rights abuses in Turkey," Gardner said, cautioning against a whitewash. "I see this as a nasty deal because the Turks have their own interests," Salem said. "They want to be able to have visas and free access to Europe, but we still cannot have freedoms."
Most Syrians are grateful to Turkey for hosting them. Ankara said it has spent 8 billion dollars on food, shelter, medicines and other services for the refugees since 2011 when the civil war started. If Turkey recognised the Syrians as legal refugees, granting them the right to earn a living and helping people resettle, many said they would give up on going to Europe. "Lots of Syrians want to stay in Turkey," Rami said. "There is a community here, and we are closer to Syria so maybe one day would go back."
So far this year, Greece alone has seen more than 500,000 people arrive on its shores while about 3,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe. More refugees are expected to flee Syria in the coming months as fighting heats up. Ali recently arrived in Amsterdam, after living in Istanbul for two years. He took a dangerous boat ride in the late summer from southern Turkey and made his way across Europe.
"People do no risk their lives for no reason," Ali said while denouncing what he called the pending "dirty deal" between Europe and Turkey. "This desperation, the lack of a future is the reason for the dangerous trip. "The Syrian people want their legal rights, not rhetoric that tells them, 'Feel grateful for what we give you, and be quiet, or we will send you back.'"
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